April 25, 2013
Los Angeles - DGA President Taylor Hackford announced that Director John LiBretto has been appointed to chair the Guild's Network Staff Negotiating Committee. LiBretto will be joined by Director Brett Holey and Associate Director Scott Berger who will serve as Vice-Chairs of the Committee.
"It is my pleasure to appoint John LiBretto as Chair of the Network Staff Negotiations Committee, and Brett Holey and Scott Berger as Vice-Chairs," said Hackford. "Their combined years of experience working in television news along with their previous negotiating experience will be enormous assets to the Guild when it comes time to negotiate our network contract in New York."
- JOHN LiBRETTO is the Senior Director for News for NBC, and director of Dateline NBC. He has directed nearly every major news event, including the world feed of the last three Presidential Inaugurations and the 2012 State of the Union address. He began his long career with NBC in 1968 in management. After service with the USAF in Vietnam, he returned to NBC and became an Associate Director, working on news, sports and soap operas. He then became a director for NBC Sports, directing all the major team sports, in addition to directing five Summer Olympics. In the mid-1980s, he became a director for NBC News, where he directed all of NBC's news programs, predominately Today. He has been the recipient of numerous Emmy awards in both News and Sports. LiBretto has served on past negotiation committees in 2010, 2008 and 2005, and as an alternate to the DGA's Eastern Directors Council.
- BRETT HOLEY is the Director and Senior Broadcast Producer for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and Director of NBC News Specials. Holey has been at the helm of Nightly for over 16 years and has managed several complete revamps of the broadcast including moving into the HD space, online and on to other digital platforms. He directs most of the network's breaking news coverage as well as all major events of the recent Presidential election year. Holey joined NBC after thirteen years with ABC News where he worked in a variety of producing and directing roles. His directing credits at ABC include This Week with David Brinkley, and World News Now, which he helped to create. Holey's work has earned him nine Emmys, a number of Edward R. Murrow Awards, an Alfred I. DuPont Award, Broadcast Designers Association Awards, and a National Headliner Award among other accolades. Holey also served as an alternate to the DGA's Eastern Directors Council from 2011-12.
- SCOTT BERGER is an Associate Director on the CBS Evening News. Berger is the current Assistant Secretary-Treasurer of the DGA's National Board of Directors and has served 12 terms on the AD/SM/PA East Council. In addition, he has served on every DGA Network Negotiating Committee since the 1980s, including serving as the Vice-Chair in the last round of negotiations. In 2009, Berger received the Guild's Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, which is given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of their service to the industry and DGA. Berger began his career as a Stage Manager for CBS, which paved the way for a move into network broadcasts. In addition to news, he worked on all kinds of sporting events including major league baseball, professional and NCAA football and basketball, the Stanley Cup hockey finals and the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, which he has worked on for nearly two decades.
Hackford also took a moment to acknowledge the service of past Network Negotiations Committee Chair William M. "Bill" Brady, who retired from CBS News last year. "This is truly a bittersweet moment for the Guild as for the past four negotiations cycles, Bill Brady has served as the Chair of these negotiations, and he has been involved in every network negotiation since the mid-80s," said Hackford. "Words cannot describe how much Bill has done on behalf of our members who work in news and sports. For this we all owe Bill a great deal of gratitude."
The National Board of Directors unanimously approved these appointments at its recent April meeting. The DGA announced earlier this year that Secretary-Treasurer Michael Apted and Fifth Vice President Thomas Schlamme would serve as co-chairs of the Feature Film and Television Negotiating Committee. The DGA's current Network contract expires on June 30, 2014. Negotiation dates have not yet been set.